Fibroid Awareness Month: Know That You Have Non-Surgical Options
Video Transcript
Porsche Foxx: Porsche Foxx Morning Show everybody, reaching for a high of 91F, it is 75F right now, sunny skies, turning out to be a beautiful day. JULY is fibroid awareness month, and I have the number one doctor, the number one specialist when it comes to fibroids and UFE is in the studio, and you just hung out with me this past Friday at the Uptown Comedy Corner. Shoutout to your beautiful wife, too!
Dr. John Lipman: Ahh, thank you very much!
Porsche Foxx: Dr. Lipman is in the building. So, you have a medical center, you are the founder and also the medical director, the Atlanta Fibroid Center. July, as I just said, is fibroid awareness month, and this situation seems to be very prevalent in African-American women especially.
Dr. John Lipman: It is. 80% of adult African-American women have these benign tumors, so it’s really important for women to know, but particularly women of color, about these benign tumors. Many women don’t even know that they have them, it’s the number one reason why women have heavy periods, that’s oftentimes what makes them present; but they can cause pain, it can cause urinary frequency, it’s just important to know your body and know about these benign tumors.
Porsche Foxx: What are some of the other symptoms?
Dr. John Lipman: Well, these are the most important and the most common. Heavy bleeding, pelvic pain, urinary frequency. They are in the uterus so they can press some things and cause these symptoms, and so if a woman is having any of those symptoms, it’s important to go to her doctor and talk about these to see if she has fibroids. She’ll be examined, they might do an ultrasound to pick up these tumors, and one of the other important information pieces this morning is to know that you don’t have to have surgery for fibroids. Oftentimes, women are told you gotta have an operation, particularly hysterectomy. It’s the most common reason why women undergo hysterectomy and that’s just not necessary anymore. It maybe how your mom or your grandma…
Porsche Foxx: That’s back in the day…
Dr. John Lipman: Back in the day. We can do things much better, non-surgically with a procedure called UFE, uterine fibroid embolization.
Porsche Foxx: And I had one. I went to work the next day!
Dr. John Lipman: Yeah… It’s dramatic, it’s remarkable, but people have to know about it, and there are a lot of studies out there that show that most women suffering with fibroids never hear about UFE, they only hear about surgery, so part of the awareness for fibroid awareness month is to know that you have options, you have these great non-surgical options. Our patients go home the same day with a bandaid, they recover over a few days and they are back to work within a week.
Porsche Foxx: So when I had it, it was probably maybe 8 years ago. What is the procedure now? Do you go through the growing area?
Dr. John Lipman: You can go through the top of the right leg to the growing area of the left wrist. But it’s just the way into the body, and then once we get into each of the uterine arteries, we can knock out the fibroid blood supply from the inside, and then they soften and shrink. They go home with a bandaid and their uterus importantly.
Porsche Foxx: What is the address of the location for the Atlanta Fibroid Center?
Dr. John Lipman: We are at 3670 Highlands Parkway in Smyrna. And our office number is 770-953-2600. So anybody can call except Karissa [laughter], but everybody else is welcome to call. Give us a shout!
[More laughter]
Porsche Foxx: That’s funny.
Male Host: Doctor, let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of oregano oil for fibroids?
Dr. John Lipman: I have not. But there are some natural ways to… we don’t know where fibroids come from. Nobody does. But once they arrive, they grow with estrogen, and so some of the strategies used to kind of prevent the symptoms or help with the symptoms ais anti-estrogen strategies. So try to avoid red meat, chicken and dairy.
Porsche Foxx: I was just going to say that diet is important, too.
Dr. John Lipman: Diet is very important. Increase colored fruit and vegetables cause they have a chemical in them that makes them colored called flavonoids, and flavonoids block estrogen synthesis, so that’s important. It’s always important for your overall health but it’s important for your fibroid health, too.
Porsche Foxx: I wanna… I know of a woman that, you know, is going through excruciating cramps. You don’t want to wait on the natural. I mean, if there is a natural cure… but if you… there are some women that I went to school with women that they were bent over from pain.
Dr. John Lipman: Oh, it’s horrible. I mean, terrible pain, they can have these horrible menstrual periods, their whole life is revolved around what time of the month it is. They may wear extra padding, extra clothes, they come to the office with a bag cause they don’t know when these accidents gonna occur. It’s just very draining on them physically, it’s draining on them mentally, and it just doesn’t have to be. And a lot of women are told just to have surgery but that’s not necessary. You can have this UFE and get your life back.
Porsche Foxx: Dr. John C. Lipman! He is the founder and medical director of the Atlanta Fibroid Center. You can call 770-953-2600 and get more information, all right?
